Saving the Spy
by shipper727
Summary: This story is set after Alex comes to stay with Sabina in America. Raleigh is not the most sociable seventeen year old girl. But she does have a secret. She keeps a journal of all the crazy, sexy dreams she has about herself and the most popular boy in school. When assigned to be partners with Alex she gets roped into his world, a world that might not be all that safe. . .
1. Chapter 1

**Quick a/n:**

**I love the Alex Rider series and have been wanting to do a story about him for a while. **

**Of course, I don't own Alex Rider (yada yada ya)**

Chapter 1:

I blew my hair out of my face and stared up at the board. AP lit was my favorite class and usually I had no problem with the assignments we were given, but this assignment involved a _partner_. My face was already turning scarlet. It wasn't that I didn't have friends. I just didn't have _many_ friends, and certainly none in this class. Which meant that I would be the only one without a partner.

Around me people were already whispering and trying to figure out their groups.

Mr. Moore cleared his throat and everyone looked up.

"You can all stop now. I've already preassigned the groups." He told us, grinning when everyone in the classroom gave a groan of disappointment.

Relieved, I let out a breath.

Little did I know that my life was about to change forever.

Mr. Moore began to call off the pairs.

"Raleigh Smith. . . and Alex Rider."

No. No, no, no. Oh shit.

"This is going to be so much fun," I knew who it was straight away from the English accent.

I peered up through my dark hair to find a boy with tousled blonde hair and milk chocolate eyes standing in front of me.

I swallowed and continued to stare at him.

"Raleighhh," Alex waved his hand in front of my eyes. "Are you in there?"

I blushed, this was even worse than being partnerless.

"Alex." I acknowledged him.

He pulled out the chair beside me and stretched his legs out. God, he took up so much room.

"How on earth did this happen to me?" I wondered aloud.

"I"m hurt," Alex said dramatically. "I happen to be a pleasure to work with."

I couldn't help it, his expression was so funny. My face cracked into a grin.

"Aha!" Alex yelled triumphantly. "There's the smile."

I shoved his shoulder, maybe a little too hard.

Alex was one of the most popular guys in school. He had transferred in sophomore year from England and everyone had found him absolutely fascinating. He was mysterious and funny at the same time. Everyone wanted to be friends with him, wanted to know his life story. Funny thing is, I don't think that anyone really knows who he is. Except for his foster sister, Sabina, of course. She had transferred from England freshman year, and quickly become one of the most popular and sought after girls in the school.

When Alex had come to live with her many of the boys in school had groaned, knowing their chances with her were shot, but it had become clear very quickly that they were just friends.

It did help Alex's popularity that he was stunning to look at. If you didn't hear him speak it was easy to assume that he was a typical California boy. Messy blond hair, tan skin, and a hard muscular body with broad shoulders. Simply speaking, he was gorgeous.

While I had been musing over all this, Alex had been talking to me.

"Raleigh, are you even listening?" He asked.

"Sorry, what?" I said, coming out of my haze.

He sighed. "I said, what do you want do for the project?"

"Oh right. Well, I have a lot of ideas. We should probably get to work soon." I said. "Are you free after school?"

"Sorry, soccer practice." He frowned. "But you could come over after if you want."

Had he just invited me to his house? Absolutely not. Alex may be mysterious, but I had a few secrets too. Embarrassing secrets. Secrets involving him and me, alone, on a bed. I shoved that thought aside.

I blushed again. "Umm, well maybe we could meet at the library instead."

The bell rang, cutting short the awkward conversation.

I stood up, fast, needing to put some distance between the two of us.

Suddenly, I felt a warm hand on my wrist.

"You okay, Raleigh?" Alex looked genuinely concerned.

"Yeah, I'll just- I'll see you at the library at 6. Bye."

I all but sprinted out of the room.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2:

I was supposed to meet Alex at the library in twenty minutes, and I couldn't bring myself to get up from the couch. I had been writing in my journal.

I blushed just thinking about seeing him again.

I met Alex in sophomore year when I was assigned to show him around the school. We had most of our classes together, so it wasn't a problem to show him around, but the first time I lay eyes on the blonde something in me had changed. He was the most beautiful boy I had ever seen, and a desperate need to just be near him rose up inside me.

It was a terrifying and wonderful feeling, and I had done my best to ignore it.

Fortunately for me, Alex integrated pretty quickly. Everyone loved him, and soon the Brit had no need for a guide.

I had done my best to forget about him, not an easy task, but I convinced myself it was better than getting my heart broken.

Even though I no longer saw Alex, my fantasies never stopped, and I found myself going crazy with the need to be around him.

So I saw started writing down every daydream I had about him in a little blue book. Every sexy dream, every thing I wanted to do to him, and everything I wanted him to do to me.

It was my most embarrassing secret, and another reason to stay away from Alex.

Staying away from him was no longer going to be an option, though.

I sighed, and picked myself up off the couch.

I would just have to ignore all the crazy feelings swirling around inside me until we were done with this project.

The library was one of my favorite places in town. What could be better than being surrounded by books?

I saw Alex sitting in the study center, and walked over to him.

He looked up, and his face broke into a huge grin.

Shit, the boy was melting my heart.

"Hey, Lee," he said, still grinning.

I couldn't help it. I knew I was wearing the biggest, dopiest smile ever.

"Hey." I said. "You ready to get down to business?"

"Only if you are," he replied.

"'Course. I'm always ready to do homework."

He laughed. My control was fading fast. This was so bad.

I shook my head. _Just get through this_.

For the next hour and a half we discovered our project. We had to write a paper on one of the books we had read this year and present it to the class.

"Do you want to do it on the James Bond novels?" I asked him.

He went still, and I swear all the blood drained from his face.

I frowned, "What? You don't like spies?"

Alex smiled, but it was twisted. "No. No. I love spies just as much as the next guy. You know what, yeah, let's do it on James Bond. Why not, right?"

"Okaaay, weirdo," I said, elbowing him to show I was joking.

Alex looked down at his watch. "Shit!" He said jumping up.

"I was supposed to be home for dinner like fifteen minutes ago," he glared down at his watch.

"Right. Sorry, kinda lost track of time I guess," I apologized.

He looked up at me. "Come have dinner with us. Please?"

Part of me was tempted, I had always wanted to meet his foster parents, but the logical part of me told me that it was a very bad idea.

"Uh, no," I said blushing a little, "that's all right."

"Please," he was looking at me with his soulful brown eyes. His eyes were the most complex thing about him, they made him look much older than his eighteen years. "Please, Raleigh."

He took my hand and started tracing small circles on my palm.

Oh my god, I could barely breathe.

"Umm, oh- okay," I stammered out.

His smile was priceless.

"Brilliant then, let's go."

How the hell did this happen to me?


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3:

Alex pulled his jeep into the driveway of a beautiful Victorian era house.

"Wow," I said impressed. "This is really nice."

"Thanks," he grinned. "I love it."

He hopped out of the jeep and I quickly followed him up the pathway to the front door. I tried to keep a smile on my face, but my insides were twisting and flopping and making it very hard to concentrate.

"Uhh, maybe this isn't a good idea," my voice was shaky. "I should probably just go."

"Nuh-uh," he said shaking his head. "You promised."

"I didn't _promise_," I protested weakly.

He didn't say anything, just opened the door and pulled me through.

"Alex, is that you?" Someone called from the kitchen.

"Yeah, sorry I'm late, Elizabeth."

He pulled me into the dining room, and everyone sitting at the table looked up and stared at me.

Sabina raised her eyebrows at Alex, and his foster parents looked, frankly, shocked to see me standing in their house.

Alex cleared his throat. "Everybody, this is Raleigh."

Alex's foster mother smiled and said, "Oh of course, it's so nice to finally meet you Raleigh. Alex has told us quite a bit about you."

I gave Alex a funny look, but decided to let it go.

"It's nice to meet you, too," I said, trying to make my voice seem warm.

Sabina spoke, "Yeah, nice to see you Raleigh. This is my dad, Edward, and my mum, Elizabeth."

Elizabeth seemed to have gotten over her initial shock at seeing me and quickly rushed into the kitchen to set me a place.

The meal was delicious and I was honestly enjoying myself until I opened my mouth and asked the question I was dying to get an answer to.

"So, how come Alex lives with you?"

There was a pregnant pause, and I knew immediately that I shouldn't have brought it up.

"Sorry, that was rude," I said backpedaling. "Forget I said anything."

"No, no, it's, uh, it's fine," Alex said.

"Although when you hear my story you'll probably want to get as far away from me as possible," he said grinning, but I could see that there was truth to his words, too.

"My parents died when I was very small, so I was sent to live with my uncle. That went well for the first fourteen years of my life, but then my uncle died in a . . . car crash. I don't really have any other relatives so our housekeeper, Jack, decided to become my legal guardian. But, um, then she died as well. So here I am."

My mouth was hanging open, and I shut it fast. That was the most depressing story I had ever heard. It also explained quite a bit about Alex. How he didn't seem like a normal high school student, and why sometimes when no one else was looking he would get this broken look on his face as if the world was trying to smother him, and it was succeeding.

I took Alex's hand. "I'm so sorry, and I know that's stupid because I barely know you, but really I am sorry because you don't deserve that."

Alex was looking into my eyes, and suddenly, it was like the rest of the world had disappeared. As if we'd been sucked into a black hole and neither one of us could break the spell.

Someone cleared their throat, and we both blushed.

"Thanks for dinner guys, Raleigh and I are gonna go up to my room." Alex said, taking my hand again.

"Of course." said Elizabeth. "It was so nice to meet you, Raleigh."

"Thanks. For everything." I liked his family already. "It was nice to meet you, too."

And with that, Alex dragged me up to his room.

I hadn't been in many boys' rooms but on tv they were always messy, with pizza boxes and dirty clothes strewn across the floor.

Alex's room was neat and orderly, but it still seemed completely _him_. As if the room was a reflection of his personality.

"So, now that you know about me are you sure you don't wanna leave?" I looked up and saw that he was grinning, but it was more like a grimace. His face was full of pain and it broke my heart.

"I would never do that," I said frowning. "None of what happened is your fault."

"Oh, I wouldn't say _none _of it was my fault," he replied.

I couldn't take his pain anymore. I all but ran across the room and flung my arms around him. He stiffened in surprise but soon wrapped his arms around me and held on, like he hadn't had a proper hug in ages.

"Alex, please don't say that." I whispered into his shoulder. "You're breaking my heart."

He pulled away and gave me a funny look.

I punched him in the shoulder. "Don't let it go to your head, though. I don't think it can get any bigger without exploding."

He laughed and pulled me onto the bed with him.

Oh God. Do not start thinking about him naked. Do not start thinking about him naked.

Shit.

"Let's play twenty questions," his voice broke the silence.

That was the last thing I needed. I didn't want to know more about him. If I wasn't careful I was going to fall in love with him, and I could not go through that.

Nope. No thank you.

"All right," I heard myself say.

What the fuck?

"Brilliant," he said grinning. "What's your favorite fruit?"

"My favorite fruit? That is the weirdest question ever." I was grinning now too.

He just shrugged.

"Okay," I said sighing, "it's strawberries."

"Do you like to read?"

"'Course. Who doesn't like to read?"

I raised my eyebrows, loving his answer.

We ended up talking for almost two hours, and I probably would have stayed there all night if my dad hadn't called to ask me where I was.

Alex drove me home and stopped the car outside my house.

"Thank you for having dinner with me tonight," he said.

"It wasn't as bad as I thought it'd be," I shrugged. "I actually kind of had fun."

I looked over at him, and immediately regretted it. He was giving me a soulful eye look, and I was afraid I'd melt into a puddle of goo on his car seat.

"Umm well I better go." I hurriedly unbuckled my seat belt and hopped out of the car. "See you tomorrow."

I hated running away, hated that I was scared, but if I had sat in that car a second longer I would have done something very stupid.

Like grab him and kiss him.

And I could not have that.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4:

The next day in AP lit Mr. Moore made us break into groups to work on our project.

I immediately brightened. I would get to spend the next fifty minutes with Alex.

Oh my god. Did I really just think that?

A clunk in the seat next to me brought me out of my thoughts.

"So you were in a hurry to get out of my car last night."

"Oh, Alex. Hi." I tried to calm my fluttering heart. "Sorry about that. I was just, uh, pretty tired last night."

He looked at me sideways. "Whatever you say, Raleigh."

"Yeah, well we should probably talk about our, you know, project." Was I blushing?

I managed to keep us on track pretty well for the rest of the period, and Alex didn't bring up last night again. I don't know if this made me feel more sad or relieved.

The bell rang signaling the end of the class.

"Raleigh, do you want to get dinner with me tonight?"

My eyes flew to his. Had he just asked me out?

"You know, so we can keep working on our project," he said.

"Oh. Oh, right. Of course." I blushed. "To work on our project."

He grinned like he knew what I had been thinking.

"See you tonight then," he said.

Dear lord, I could not stay away from this boy.

Alex texted me during eighth period and told me to meet him at Ricky's at 7, so that was where I was heading at 6:45.

All day I had been trying to convince myself that I was not looking forward to this dinner, but ever since lit I hadn't been able to keep a huge smile off my face.

I pulled up outside of the restaurant and headed in.

Alex was sitting in a booth at the very back, and I walked over to him, trying not to seem overeager.

"Hey, Alex." Gah. I was still smiling like an idiot.

"Hey, Lee," he said smiling back at me. "What do you want to eat?"

"I love the chicken salad here." I did. It was to die for.

"Yeah?" He was still grinning. "Me too."

We sat in silence for about a minute just smiling at each other.

_Snap out of it, Lee._

"So, um, the project." I broke the silence.

"Right," he coughed. "The project."

As much as I wanted to find out more about the mysterious blond in front of me, I needed to keep my heart and sanity intact more.

My dream of not falling for Alex was flying out the window, though. We spent two hours in the diner, and about ten minutes talking about our project.

It wasn't my fault, Alex was fascinating and I wanted to know everything about him.

The need to be around him was only growing stronger, and I was wondered if it would hurt very much when I would have to stop spending time with him.

We had just paid and were leaving the restaurant when I felt a rough arm grab me from behind.

A sharp object was pressed into my throat.

"Hand over your purse, bitch." The voice was low and gruff sounding.

Shit, was I getting mugged.

I immediately tried to spin my head to find Alex, but the guy only held me tighter.

"Let her go. Right now." It was Alex.

When I saw his face, I gasped. It was terrifying. A deadly calm had washed over him, and his eyes were on fire. If anyone looked at me like that I would sprint the other direction.

"I promise you, if you hurt one hair on her head, it will be the last thing you _ever_ do." He growled.

The man behind me laughed.

"Yeah? And what are you gonna do to me, _kid_," he spat out the last word.

Alex smiled. "They always underestimate me. I guess they really won't ever learn."

And with that he spun and kicked the hand holding the knife. He pulled me away from the man, and shoved me.

"Raleigh. Run."

I could only stare at him.

He turned back toward the man, who was now coming at him.

Alex ducked a punch, and kneed the guy in the stomach, following through with an elbow to the side of his face.

The man fell like a rock and didn't get up again.

I looked at Alex. He was standing poised with his fists up. His breaths were coming out in short puffs.

"Alex?" I couldn't look away from him. "Alex, are you okay?"

He looked over at me as if he was surprised that I was still standing there. "Raleigh! I told you to run!"

"Alex. That was absolutely amazing! How did you do that?"

"Oh, that. I, uh, I've been a double blackbelt since I was twelve." He said, looking down at the ground.

"Well, uh, thank you. Seriously."

"Yeah, no problem." He looked uncomfortable. "Listen, I"ll walk you to your car, and then I'd better get home."

"Oh. Okay." I was still shocked.

There were more sides to Alex than I had ever dreamed.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5:

I had barely slept a wink last night. And it was all Alex Rider's fault.

I set down my journal and got up to get ready for school.

Brushing my teeth, I thought about Alex. Curling my hair, I thought about Alex. Pulling out my clothes, I thought about Alex.

I was standing in just my underwear and bra when I heard a thump outside my window.

I looked over and screamed. Alex was sitting in the tree outside my window, his mouth hanging open.

I put my hand on my stomach and gulped in a breath of air.

"Er, Raleigh, this is very awkward. Could you, um, let me in?"

I walked over to the window and pulled it open. "Jesus Christ Alex! What the hell are you doing?!"

"Well, I wanted to surprise you and see if you wanted to ride to school with me. But, um, I didn't realize you were getting dressed."

Realizing that I was standing in my underwear in front of the boy I had been fantasizing about for three years was like having a fire lit under me.

I was hot. Everything was burning.

"Oh my god. Shut your eyes! Shut your eyes!"

He just kept staring at me.

Everything in me was telling me to run. To hide. But for some reason my feet. Would. Not. Move.

Alex grabbed my waist and pulled me into him. He trailed kisses from my neck up to my ear. "Raleigh," he whispered. "You're beautiful."

I grabbed a fistful of his shirt and hung on for dear life.

His hands were like fire on my waist, and he pulled me in just a little closer. "Al-"

"Raleigh!" My mom pounded on my door. "Raleigh! I hope you're up!"

I quickly pulled out of Alex's grip and hurried back to my closet. He shut his eyes, and breathed out.

"I'm going to get dressed and then I'll meet you at your car, okay?" My god, that could have ended very badly.

"Right, right. Yeah. My car," he mumbled, still leaning against my window.

"Alex."

He blushed, and climbed down the tree.

Holy. Fuck.

Well, at least I had a real story to write down in my journal now.

I blew out a breath, and hurriedly got dressed.

Sticking my journal in my bag I ran down the stairs and blew out the door yelling a quick goodbye to my mother.

The car ride to school was, unsurprisingly, extremely awkward. We kept bumping hands and accidentally touching.

By the time we got to school both of our faces were a deep shade of red, and we said a very quick 'see ya' to each other.

All I could think about through my first two periods were Alex's lips on my skin.

By the time third period rolled around I was a little calmer but as soon as I walked into lit and saw Alex the memory of this morning came rushing back.

Even though we weren't working on our projects today Alex still sat in the seat next to me.

It was all I could do not to lean over and grab him during Mr. Moore's lecture on the techniques of sixteenth century writing.

Finally, I couldn't take it. I got up to go to the bathroom.

I just needed a little air, a little space, if I wanted to sit next to Alex for the remaining thirty minutes of class.

When I walked back into class I saw Alex reading a blue book, his mouth hanging partially open.

I walked up to him. "Whatcha reading?"

He slowly lifted his head, and I looked down at the book he was reading.

I stopped breathing.

No. No. Please god, no.

He was reading _my_ journal. The journal that I had recorded every hot, sexy fantasy I had had of the two of us since sophomore year.

I turned and sprinted out of the room, not caring that everyone's eyes were now on me. There was no way I could explain this to him that would made me look sane.

I ran into an empty classroom and leaned against the door, almost in tears.

The door opened and I fell on my butt.

"Raleigh." It was Alex.

I jumped to my feet and backed away from him.

"Raleigh. What was that book?"

"Alex. Please," a single tear slipped out. "Alex. I'm sorry. I never meant for anyone to read it."

He strode over to me and I backed up until I hit the wall. I was trapped. And it was the sexiest thing that had ever happened to me.

He put his hands on either side of me, caging me in.

"Please let me go." I was burning up, my body on fire.

He pressed closer into me. I could feel _everything_. His muscles were bulging, his body so hard and fit. And something else, pressing into my stomach.

I could feel a rush of wetness in my panties, and I whimpered.

"Why did you write those things?" Alex stared into my eyes.

"Please don't make me-"

"Raleigh, you are not going anywhere until you tell me why you wrote that."

I shut my eyes. My stomach was flip flopping everywhere. My brain was melting. I needed to breathe.

I could feel his breath on my face, his sweet smell surrounding me.

"I just, I don't know why but I've been having. . . thoughts about you. Us. For a very long time. And I needed to write them down. I was going crazy! _You_ were driving me crazy." My stomach was going up and down, and my breathing was shallow.

He leaned his face closer, so that we were almost touching, causing my breath to hitch.

"What kind of thoughts?" His voice was low and rough, like he had just woken up.

Oh my god, he was going to make me say it.

"_Bad_ thoughts. Thoughts that I should not be having about you." My voice sounded so gravelly. "I can't help it. You're so. . ."

"Raleigh, all you had to do was ask." He pushed his waist into my stomach, and my eyes flew open. "I would have gladly helped you take care of your little problem."

I gulped and looked into his eyes. He was grinning.

"You-You're laughing at me."

"'Course I am, Lee," he smiled. "How could you not know that I've wanted you just as bad."

My heart leaped. "Al-"

He crashed his lips onto mine, and I exploded.

I reached up and grabbed the back of his head, pulling him into me.

He grabbed my waist, and started running his hands up and down my body.

I tugged at the bottom of his shirt and he lifted his arms up so I could pull it over his head.

His stomach was going in and out, making his muscles flex. He was beautiful, just as I knew he would be.

I ran my hands up and down his stomach, my finger slipping just below his boxers.

He growled, and stepped even closer, placing a knee inbetween my legs.

I pulled his head back and kissed him hard.

He slipped his hand under my shirt, and I sucked in a breath.

His hands reached up and cupped my breasts and I couldn't help it. I full on moaned.

Just then, the door crashed open.

Alex swung his head backwards. "Sabina? What the he-"

"Alex," she said, not even looking at me. "You have to come now. It's Mr. Blunt."


	6. Chapter 6

_Just then, the door crashed open._

_Alex swung his head backwards. "Sabina? What the he-"_

_"Alex," she said, not even looking at me. "You have to come now. It's Mr. Blunt."_

For just a second I saw fear, raw fear, in Alex's eyes. But then it was gone, replaced with a look of intense anger.

"Who the hell does he think he is!" Alex shouted, waves of fury rolling off him. "This is MY life! I do NOT belong to them anymore."

"Alex," there were tears in Sabina's eyes. "I'm sorry, but you really have to come."

Alex took a deep breath and leaned back against the wall. "Why? Why is this happening now. It's been three years."

"I don't know Alex," Sabina hesitated. "But he also said that you have to bring _her_."

She pointed at me.

Alex's eyes widened. "What? No. Absolutely not."

"Alex," I finally found my voice. "What is going on?"

He looked at me. "Nothing you should have to worry about."

"Actually, she does have to worry about it," Sabina spoke up. "Her father is part of it."

"My dad? What are you talking about." They were really starting to scare me. "Alex, please tell me what's going on."

Alex grimaced. "Well, I guess we are all about to find out."

The ride back to the Pleasure's house was quiet. Alex had a death grip on the steering wheel, and Sabina nervously fiddled with her bracelets.

I sat in the back with my eyes closed. None of this made sense, but I did know one thing. Alex was hiding something. I could see it in the way he hunched his shoulders, and how he wouldn't look me directly in the eye.

We pulled up outside of the house, and Alex slowly turned off the engine.

"Raleigh," he said without turning around. "Before we go in there. . . I just want you to know I'm sorry about all of this."

And just like that it was time for me to meet Mr. Blunt.

Elizabeth and Edward Pleasure were talking with a man inside the kitchen. They were all having tea, but the room was tense, and no one was drinking anything.

Alex cleared his throat. "Mr. Blunt."

I got my first good look at the man. He was. . . grey. Everything about him was dull and unexciting. Nothing stood out at all.

Maybe, I thought, he did that on purpose.

"Alex. It is good to see you." Even his voice was nondescript. "I am sorry about coming into your home like this. But we. . . we need your help."

"Oh, that's rich." Alex grinned. "You need _my_ help. In case you haven't noticed, I don't exactly look fourteen anymore."

"I understand that you're cross," Mr. Blunt said calmly. "But if you do not help us people will die."

Listening to this conversation was like watching a tennis match from Mars. I didn't have a clue what was going on, but I did know that my dad was somehow involved.

"I'm, uh, sorry to interrupt." I stuttered. "But what are you talking about? And how is my father involved?"

Mr. Blunt turned to look at me. "Raleigh. I'd say it's a pleasure to meet you, but it's really not. However, I'm assuming that you were not aware of the fact that your boyfriend is a spy."

Wait. What the fuck?

I turned to Alex. "Are you guys messing with me? Did you like set this up or something?"

"Raleigh, please." Alex sighed. "I just-"

"Nuh-uh, look me in the eyes and tell me you are a spy."

Alex groaned. "Raleigh, I can't-"

"Do it, Alex."

Alex grabbed my arm and pulled me close. His eyes were fierce and beautiful. "I _was_ a spy. Used to be. Past tense."

I knew in my heart he was telling the truth. "Oh my god! You're a freaking spy! Are you shitting me? This cannot be happening."

"This is not a joke, Ms. Smith." Mr. Blunt said. "Now if you will let me start at the beginning it will be a lot easier to understand.

Next Saturday at three p.m., the presidents of of six different African countries are holding a meeting to discuss a peace treaty inside the World Bank in Washington D.C. A group of international terrorists have planned to infiltrate the World Bank and somehow terminate any thought of a peace treaty. We believe they are going to set off a bomb inside the building, which would kill almost 2000 people. We also believe that they have an inside man. We need an agent to infiltrate the group and find out who the inside man is. We don't have time for one of ours to get in. But you, Alex, have an inside connection."

"What inside connection?" Alex interrupted.

I felt all the blood drain from my face. "Me. I'm the inside connection. My fathers works at the World Bank."

"Exactly," Mr. Blunt nodded. "If you two can get in there then you can find the mole, and hopefully stop him from detonating the bomb."

This was too much. All I wanted was to be alone. I just needed to think, to _breathe_.

"I will _not_ put Raleigh in danger like that." Alex sounded fierce. If I wasn't having a silent panic attack it would've been kind of hot.

And then something clicked.

"It doesn't matter, Alex." I took a deep breathe. "I have to help you. My father will be in that building and I cannot let him die."

"Raleigh, no." Alex started, but I cut him off. "You won't change my mind on this. I am going to help you. And we are going to save _everyone_ in that building."

It didn't matter that Alex was a spy or that life as I knew it had just ended. I was going to stop that bomb from going off.

If it was the last thing I ever did.


	7. Chapter 7

Alex was fuming. I sat next to him in the passenger seat of his jeep, waiting for him to speak.

"Alex," I cleared my throat. "I'm really sorry that I got you roped into this. I just, I have to save my dad. I have to."

Alex turned to me. "Raleigh."

He shook his head. "Raleigh. You did not 'rope me into this.' I'd do _anything_-"

He sighed. "I'd do anything for you. Anything at all."

My stomach swooshed, and I blushed. How did he do this to me?

"Why?"

Alex laughed. "Why? You still don't get it."

I looked over at him, he wasn't making any sense.

Unfortunately, I didn't get to find out exactly what he meant.

Mr. Blunt knocked on Alex's window, startling us both.

With an annoyed expression, Alex rolled down his window. "What."

Mr. Blunt's face was blank, as if none of this was happening. I almost envied him, being able to hide things so well.

"Be ready to fly at 6 tomorrow night."

I gulped. Tomorrow. Just having a deadline made this scarier.

"Right." Alex abruptly rolled his window up and started the car.

We sat in silence on the way back to my house. The air was tense, but not uncomfortable. We were both just lost in thought.

Alex pulled into my driveway. I didn't want to get out of the car. I didn't want him to leave.

I licked my lips. "Will you stay?"

He swung his head towards me. "You want me to stay?"

I blushed. "Never mind, I was just-"

He was grinning. "I would love to stay."

Now I was smiling like a crazy person. "Well. Good."

We just stared at each other for a minute.

And then I laughed. This always seemed to happen to us.

I grabbed his hand and dragged him inside and up to my room.

And stopped short when I remembered I only had one bed.

We stood in the door of my room, looking at my double bed.

Alex sleeping in my bed, with me. I had to admit it was a recurring theme in my dreams.

"Welllll, this just got a little awkward."

I blushed. "Smartass."

I looked up at him, he was smiling.

"No, no, no Raleigh. You don't understand." He grabbed me and pulled me close. "I would be honored to share a bed with you."

Alex was so close, I could smell his shampoo. The heat coming off of him was enough to light a fire in my tummy.

I leaned in and breathed.

Alex's brow furrowed. "Did you just smell me?"

"Umm, no?"

I grinned and pulled away. "I have to get ready for bed. But please, make yourself at home."

"Oh, I will." He sounded smug, and suddenly I knew why.

He pulled off his shirt, and I sucked in a breath.

And then the pants. All he had on were tight boxer briefs.

And my god, he was fit and lean and. . . beautiful.

"Raleigh?"

I was staring.

Tearing my eyes away, I managed to grab my pajamas and close the door to my bathroom.

Leaning against the door, I tried to calm myself down.

I was buzzing. All I wanted to do was touch him. Taste him.

I groaned. How on earth was I going to share a bed with him.

Brushing my teeth, I contemplated sleeping on the floor. But was I really that chicken?

Sticking my head out the door, I saw Alex lying on top of my covers, his hands behind his head.

I steeled myself. I was fine. I could spend one night next to him without accidentally trying to feel him up.

"Hey."

I walked up to my bed, and tried to get in without touching him.

He stared at me. "Hullo, yourself."

I was already tingling, just from being this close to him.

It was going to be a long night.


	8. Chapter 8

**a/n: Y'know, if I didn't have to go to school I would have so much more time to update my fanfictions.**

* * *

I rolled over on to my side, trying to get closer to the warmth next to me.

"Mmmm." The sound came from underneath me, and I slowly opened my eyes.

"Good morning." I was lying with my head on Alex's chest, our legs intertwined.

Blushing, I tried to roll off but his arm was draped across my waist, holding me to his chest.

"Alex?" My brain was still a little fuzzy with sleep.

He gave me a sleepy grin. "Yes, Raleigh?"

"Can you let go of me?"

He pretended to think about it for a second. "Nope. I don't think so."

His grip on my waist tightened, and I found myself being pulled even farther up his body so that our faces were almost touching.

I tried to look away, but his brown eyes were mesmerizing, holding me still.

"I think I like waking up with you," he murmured.

My heart almost stopped, and then started beating even faster than before.

A sharp ringing pulled us out of our moment.

Alex sighed, reaching over to grab his phone off the nightstand.

"Hello." His voice was sharp.

He listened to the voice on the phone. "Was it really that important to call me _right now?"_

"Right. Yeah. I'll see you tonight." Throwing the phone onto the floor, he grabbed my sides, and before I knew what was happening he had rolled us so that I was underneath him.

There was only a feather of space between our bodies. I could feel the warmth radiating off of him, and his smell was driving me crazy.

"Who was that?" I tried to keep my voice even.

He rolled his eyes. "Just one of Blunt's agents reminding us that we're leaving at 6 pm sharp."

The reminder of our mission cleared my thoughts enough to push Alex off of me.

"Right," I got up off the bed. "Well, we should probably get ready then."

I headed towards my closet, and frowned. I turned back to face Alex. "How exactly do we get ready for this?"

Alex smiled. "Just wear whatever. I'm sure they'll give us something to put on when we get there."

"Okay." Pulling a pair of jeans and a hoodie out of the closet, I started to pull of my shirt. "You wanna turn around?"

He smirked. "Not really, no."

Rolling my eyes, I decided what the hell.

Lifting my shirt over my head I could feel Alex's eyes on me. I shimmied out of my shorts and pulled the jeans on.

His eyes never left me, and it made me smile. After so many years of secretly fantasizing having the real thing in my room was almost too much for me to handle.

* * *

The gravel crunched under the Jeep's tires as we pulled into Alex's driveway.

My stomach was a mosh pit of butterflies. What on earth had I been thinking? I wasn't a spy. How was I supposed to do this?

Alex looked over and must have seen something in my face because he grabbed my hand.

"Raleigh, you're going to be okay. I promise."

I tried to respond, but nothing came out.

Alex leaned over and took my chin in his hand and pulled my head to face him.

"I would never let anything happen to you." His voice was fierce, and it made feel better.

"Thank you, Alex." I looked into his eyes, trying to tell him how much this meant to me. "Really, thank you for doing this."

He smiled at me and then pushed open his door.

We walked up to his front door, and pushed it open.

The house felt so different. Not like a home anymore. It was empty, and dark.

Alex frowned, and my heart squeezed. Reaching over, I took my hand in his.

He gave me his best grin, and we walked into the kitchen.

"Alex. Are you okay?" The entire Pleasure family was standing around their kitchen table.

Elizabeth looked like a worried mother. I smiled. Alex might not know it, but he had a family who loved him.

"You know, you don't have to do this, right?" Sabina asked her brother.

Alex put on his brave face. "I'm fine, guys. I swear. It'll be just like old times."

"That's just what we're afraid of, Alex." Edward cut in. "What if they never let you go this time?"

"I'm not fourteen anymore," Alex responded. "I can handle them."

We have to get ready, so we'll be upstairs if any of you want to. . . talk."

Alex led me up the stairs, into his room.

"Did you really mean all that?" I asked him as soon as he shut the door. "Are you really fine?"

He blew out a breath.

"Well, I guess we'll just see."


End file.
